Journey to the West was published in China in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and is widely considered one of the best Chinese novels and best novels of its time period written anywhere in the world. The story chronicles the pilgrimage of Tang Sanzang, who is based off of the real Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang. His journey to the west is focused on finding sacred texts.
Sun Wukong is one of three protectors appointed to help provide Tang Sanzang with safe passage. Wukong is a monkey with supernatural abilities who defied the gods and was imprisoned for 500 years as punishment. His journey protecting Xuanzang is described as an act of atonement.
Journey to the West combines the real-life events experienced by Xuanzang with Chinese folklore and other fictitious plot points introduced by author Wu Cheng'en.
The classic novel has proved to be extremely influential, as it has inspired Dragon Ball, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, One Piece, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and more.
To complete the whole story, you'll need to read through all four volumes, but it's a very lengthy tale. Volume 1 of these eye-catching revised editions is 576 pages, while the other three volumes are just under 450 pages each. Each volume is around $30 each, but Amazon does have an older box set featuring all four volumes for $45. The box set contains more compact paperbacks, so the page count increases to 2,346 pages total.
